Shane Ross (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The matter I wish to raise is the need for the Minister for Foreign Affairs to provide substantial assistance to the people of Zimbabwe during the cholera epidemic. The Minister of State, Deputy Dick Roche, will be aware of this. This is the third time in 18 months I have raised this matter on the Adjournment. That is about the limit beyond which I am not allowed to go. Each time I raised the matter, the circumstances in Zimbabwe had become worse. Each time, I implored the Government to take some sort of direct and particularly powerful unilateral action to help to resolve the critical problem in Zimbabwe.

Many international surveys have found the Government has played an honourable role in this area. Be it openly or behind the scenes, we have done as much as we can as a small neutral country but, in the present circumstances, we could possibly do more. The Minister of State will be aware that circumstances in Zimbabwe have become even worse because of a cholera epidemic. The problem is exacerbated by the political and physical circumstances in the country. When a nation with a collapsed infrastructure is struck by disease, famine or any such disaster, it is almost impossible to resolve the problem or prevent the disease from spreading. Zimbabwe is quite noticeably not equipped to fight an epidemic of this sort. Cholera is a horrible disease.

Fortunately, in some cases cholera can be pretty easily remedied and cured. The tragedy of what is occurring in Zimbabwe is that the people are suffering from a disease that is attacking them very rapidly and which could be cured if the nation had the appropriate equipment and minerals. Medically one can sort out cholera pretty easily with water, salt and sugar, but the population literally does not have these products. I ask the Minister of State to use his good offices to ensure that the international community, particularly the European Union, of which he is so strong an advocate, will prove its worth by delivering the necessary materials to Zimbabwe. There is a case for delivering them against the wishes of the regime in the country, if necessary. The United States and United Kingdom both stated at the weekend that it has probably come to the point where we should force the Zimbabwean authorities to accept external aid and not hinder its delivery. Ireland could play a significant role in this regard.

Some 12,000 cases of cholera have been already reported and 500 are dead. The rate of death is increasing much more rapidly than is normal in a cholera epidemic because there is no equipment to prevent the spread of the disease. In addition, people are in such awful circumstances that they are eating cows that have been infected by anthrax. What the country needs is clean water, achievable through chlorination, and waste disposal mechanisms. The disease must be prevented from spreading to South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique.

I do not know if the Minister of State knows that the political circumstances are worsening by the day in Zimbabwe. That the negotiations with the Opposition are over or are in deadlock means Mr. Mugabe still holds unfettered power. A very nasty incident took place on 3 December in which a group of 12 men, supposedly members of the Zimbabwean police force took away Ms Jestina Mukoko from her home. Nobody knows whether it was an abduction or an arrest. The men were armed and claimed to be policemen. There is much doubt about this because they left the scene in a car without number plates and Ms Mukoko has not been seen since. She is the president of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, a project that monitors human rights in Zimbabwe. Her disappearance has caused great anxiety among members of Amnesty International, who are on the ground in the country monitoring a series of similar events that occurred recently. Ms Mukoko is certainly entitled to lawyers and access to the outside world. She is entitled to be told where she is being held. She is not the only such person in that trades unionists and others, in a country that is falling apart, have been arrested and taken away without anybody knowing what has happened to them.

I would like the Minister of State, if he can, to spell out whether the situation for him and this Government has changed sufficiently to ensure — not just because of the political tyranny that exists there, nor the total collapse of the economy where inflation is so severe that prices double every three days or because of the awful natural disasters which are attacking the country — that action is taken by the international community to see that the people of Zimbabwe are no longer subjected to this tyranny and that humanitarian aid is brought to them immediately.

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank Senator Ross and I shall take up the last point first. The reality is that what Zimbabwe and its people need more than anything else is proper governance. That is a reality. The Senator also asked about the international community. I shall talk later about the specific financial provisions we are making. We and our European partners are using our influence to the fullest to press for urgently needed policy change in Zimbabwe, as the Senator will know. For example, EU foreign ministers at the General Affairs and External Relations Council yesterday extended the restrictive measures against the Administration of President Mugabe and his followers. There is a reality that we want to make certain that any measures taken strike a balance and do not worsen the lot of people who have suffered more than enough.

This is an ideal opportunity to emphasise again that the privations the people of Zimbabwe are suffering are not just a concern of Government but are a matter of general concern throughout this country. The Government certainly shares the widespread concern about the devastating impact of the recent cholera outbreak. As the House will be aware, cholera is a highly infectious intestinal disease spread by contaminated food and water. The tragedy, as Senator Ross has said, is that it is so easily contained. Zimbabwe is now facing an outbreak of unprecedented levels which has taken the lives of almost 600 people in recent months. Almost 14,000 have been treated for the disease and it is becoming a major problem in the adjoining territories. Basic service delivery systems in Zimbabwe have begun to collapse over the past eight weeks. Schools and hospitals are closing, patients cannot access health care and teachers, nurses and doctors have been unable to work. Urban water supplies are erratic or non-existent owing to weakened infrastructure.

The Government has been seriously concerned for a considerable time about the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe and we have been responding consistently to the needs of the people. Ireland has been one of the largest international per capita donors to Zimbabwe this year. Since 2006 Ireland has provided €11 million in humanitarian aid directly to the people there. This has been mainly for food relief, school feeding programmes, health care provision and support to people displaced by government urban clearance programmes. It is delivered through non-governmental organisations.

In response to the worsening humanitarian situation, the Government is allocating €500,000 for the people of Zimbabwe, through the UN Emergency Response Fund, bringing total humanitarian funding to more than €3.3 million in 2008. The fund is operated by the UN humanitarian co-ordinator in Zimbabwe and I am confident this is the best way to get aid to the people. We have also authorised GOAL to use €108,000 in money allocated to it by Irish Aid for emergencies to target the cholera outbreak. In addition to this emergency funding, since 2006 the Government has provided €7.2 million in funding for longer-term development through NGOs and missionaries. This assistance has been focused on improving the lives of people in Zimbabwe living with HIV and AIDS.

At the beginning of the cholera outbreak, a member of the Irish Aid rapid response corps was already in Zimbabwe working with UNICEF as a child protection officer. The rapid response corps was created to provide exactly this type of essential support to our key humanitarian partners in emergency situations.

I want to make a small point that is very much my own view. It is not just the international community but more specifically the community in Africa must react to what is happening in Zimbabwe. The regime in that country would not survive were it not receiving at least tacit support from neighbours and it is time that Africa spoke out in defence of its own people. It would produce a negative response were Europe to take the lead in that regard. Europe cannot do that without the people in Africa. There have been indications in recent days that there will be a reaction from some of the neighbouring countries, and I suspect the final point the Senator is making is that this stage has been reached.

I also share the Senator's concern about Jestina Mukoko. That a person involved as a human rights defender can effectively disappear into thin air is yet another tragedy heaped on top of people who have suffered more than sufficient tragedies to date. The Senator can be assured, however, that both within the European Council and in terms of our own bilateral arrangements, we are concerned and share his concern for the people of a very troubled country.

Shane Ross (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Minister of State for his response which I know is genuine and sympathetic. I have a very specific question. Could he give me some assurance and comfort that the Government will make representations on behalf of Jestina Mukoko?

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I have said that I will make certain that the Minister and Department of Foreign Affairs are aware of the Senator's concerns. I shall specifically draw their attention to that. I shall ask the Department to do what it normally does in these matters, which is anything that can possibly be done. We have earned some respect because of our capacity to deal with affairs in Africa and given that we have a colonial past and never have been a colonist. There is some respect there and we can bring the matter to the attention of our colleagues in Europe, who may be in a better position to resolve that specific item of concern. The Senator can be assured I shall pass on his concerns.